Chaplain James Bartz Let Compassion Be Guide

Obituaries

July 8, 2001|By Christine Shenot, Sentinel Staff Writer

James M. Bartz touched a lot of people's lives as chaplain at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Even after he retired in 1989, the hospital persuaded him to continue ministering to patients and their families part time until 1999.

"He loved to work," recalled his wife, Maxine. "And he had great compassion for people."

The Rev. Bartz died Friday of congestive heart failure after a battle with prostate cancer. He was 77.

An ordained Methodist minister and graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, he moved to Central Florida from New York in 1980, first working as an education consultant and then as staff chaplain at ORMC.

Bartz came to those jobs with 13 years of experience as a high school guidance counselor in New York and service to churches in several New York towns.

At ORMC, he coordinated a variety of education programs for hospital employees on topics such as retirement.

He also created a cancer residency program for clergy from the community, arranging sessions led by ORMC's cancer experts. The goal was to help clergymen better understand cancer patients and their families, Maxine Bartz said. "He was always interested in people," she added.

Maxine Bartz said her husband, a devoted father, also had a keen interest in genealogy. "We traced about 10 families altogether between the two of us."

Bartz is survived by his wife; daughters Judith Ann Simon of Fern Park; Alane Claire Strong of Worcester, N.Y.; Carol Ellen Jordan of Unadilla, N.Y.; and Susan Keigh Williams of Orlando; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and brothers Ernest and Harold Bartz, both of New York.

Arrangements are being handled by the National Cremation Society, Beacon Chapter in Winter Park.